Overall, the population of Reach is slipping. That much is obvious, let’s not deny it. However, there is one thing I’ve noticed and relished in while playing the TU Beta:
There are more players playing it who stopped playing Reach for however long of a time before the Beta was released; A resurgence of the competitive crowd. Every other game in the Beta playlist, I run into someone who had a ton of early Arena games played with most of them being Seasons 1 or 2 and their placements being Onyx or Gold - which was good; yet their rank is typically a lower one.
This is what the Beta was meant to do: provide a competitive and fixed experience that Reach had not previously offered. Now, it still doesn’t compare to that of Halo 2 or 3’s competition, but it’s clear the ‘hardcore’ fans of Halo are coming back to a game they left due to broken gameplay because they are enticed by a possible fix to a franchise they know and love.
If anyone else has noticed the same, or has other insights, share them here.
Thank you for your time, and thank you 343 for this playlist. I’m looking forward to more possible fixes and changes!
I think our faith in 343 has paid off. I am somewhat critical of the zero bloom, but the rest of the changes they have made actually fix the game. Other things need fixing too, but other than that, I put my money on them and it was worth it. Halo Reach never really was Halo, but 343 is changing that.